Rubio: Will Decide on His Syria Vote After Classified Hearing

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., says he currently is not inclined to support military action against Syria, but he is waiting until after a closed hearing on Wednesday to hear classified information before making a final decision.

"I don't believe we should take military action unless we have a clear and achievable goal in mind," Rubio told Fox News Channel on Tuesday following a public hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on which Rubio sits.

Rubio told Fox he is "highly skeptical" of the Obama administration's belief that limited cruise missile strikes will impede President Bashar Assad from using chemical weapons again.

President Barack Obama should have acted earlier, Rubio said, before Syrian rebel forces were infiltrated by Muslim extremists from outside the country. Now, he said, there are little or no options left.

Secretary of State John Kerry testified in Tuesday's hearing that Assad has used chemical weapons on civilians because he thinks the United States won't act — or simply because he wants to survive, Rubio noted.

"I'm not sure he's going to be deterred from using chemical weapons in the future in order to hold onto power simply because he's afraid of two or three days worth of missile strikes," Rubio said.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., says he currently is not inclined to support military action against Syria, but he is waiting until after a closed hearing on Wednesday to hear classified information before making a final decision.